I Regret Nothing
by PlagueRatKat
Summary: A girl from the northern kingdom of Forodwaith travels down to The Shire to join the company of dwarves on their adventure to reclaim their mountain. She gets more than she bargained for when she locked eyes with the dark-haired younger brother the first night
1. Chapter 1: The Meeting

The day progress pretty normally for Bilbo Baggins, except for his encounter with Gandalf. Now he was getting ready to sit down to a modest dinner, but a knock at the door interrupted him. There, standing in his doorway, was a dwarf. Bilbo was not expecting a visitor, especially one he didn't know, but he let him in none the less.

Shortly after the dwarf, Dwalin, had entered Bilbo's dining room, there was a second knock at the door. When he opened the door a second time, he was stunned. He had never seen such a beauty. Bilbo half-believed he was dreaming. This new character stood at his height. Her eyes were a light blue that seemed to pierce through Bilbo as they looked at each other. Her hair was a fiery shade of red and it was cut in the strangest way. There were two layers, one that rested just below her collar bone, and the other that barely reached past her jawline. She had parted it on the left side of her face and had the front part cut no longer than the tip of her nose. It was side swept. Her skin was fair and her cheekbones high. Both her nose and cheeks were spotted with light freckles. Her left ear poked out of her hair showing a dark metal cuff that connected to a dangling chain that a small feather hung from. The right ear was hidden completely behind her hair. Without thinking, Bilbo let her in.

"This is such a beautiful home," she turned to look at him. "Do all hobbits live in homes like these?"

"Yes."

"I wish I was a hobbit," she muttered as she looked around. Bilbo watched as she took a seat in his sitting room and pulled out a leather-bound book of parchment. He watched as she began to sketch the room around her. Another knock at the door had directed his attention away from the girl. A second dwarf appeared in his doorway. After letting him in, Bilbo turned back to the seat the girl had occupied only to find it empty.

"Where did she go?" Bilbo questioned quietly before trying to remove the two dwarves from his pantry.

Dwarves continued to appear at Bilbo's door, and soon, his house was swarming with them. They had eaten all the food and all but trashed the house. The girl was all but forgotten.

"Don't do that! You'll blunt them!" The mysterious girl appeared around the corner.

"You hear that laddies?" Bofur taunted, "He says we'll blunt the knives!"

"_Blunt the knives._" There it was. The voice of an angel. "_Bend the forks._" She starred at the dark haired dwarf. Had that wonderful sound come from those lips? Their eyes connected for a moment. Those brown eyes made her heart race and her face turn red. She quickly looked away and headed back to the seat she first occupied when she arrived. She tucked the sketchbook back into her bag and looked out the window at the stars, trying to forget about those eyes and that voice.

_'The stars here are so much different than back home,'_ she thought as she found new constellations in the sky. The commotion immediately died down when there was a knock at the door over and hour later. Thorin had finally made it to The Shire.

The meeting commenced once Thorin was seated and had been given food.

"Speaking of members, who are you" Dwalin asked the small redheaded girl.

"They call me Camellia. Gandalf sent for me," she responded in a gentle voice. All eyes shifted to Gandalf, waiting for an explanation.

"She's a gifted archer and an accomplished healer. She'd be a wonderful addition to the company."

"I will not be responsible for her safety," Thorin told Gandalf.

"And I'm not asking you to," Camellia said, trying her best to keep her tone gentle. "If I wanted to be protected, I wouldn't have made the journey down here." Her eyes clearly showed the anger that was boiling inside her. A sigh escaped Thorin's lips as he motioned to Ori to present her with a contract. She signed it immediately without bothering to glance up at all the dangers.

"Don't you want to – " she cut Ori off.

"No. I know the risks." Bilbo was also presented with a contract. He began reading out loud the risks. The dwarves watched as he began to panic. Camellia stared at the wooden table, trying to avoid Kili's gaze on her. A loud thump caught their attention. Bilbo had passed out. Camellia left her seat and proceeded to the kitchen. She intended on making him a cup of tea for when he regained his senses.

All of the dwarves were gathered around the fireplace as Bilbo sat in his sitting room with the cup of tea Camellia had brewed. She kept her eyes low as they all waited for an answer from him. He was stalling and Gandalf noticed immediately.

The dwarves listened as Thorin sang in low bass tones. Bilbo was laying in his bed thinking and listening. The song the dwarves sung chilled Camellia to the bone.

_'What sorrow…'_ she thought as she stared into her own cooling cup of tea. It was now apparent that the mission she had joined was no mere adventure; she signed up to risk her life to help them reclaim their stolen kingdom…

…she couldn't be happier with her decision.


	2. Chapter 2: Stars

**Chapter Two (Stars)**

Camellia joined the dwarves in their camp that night. She wasn't tired, not in the least bit. She decided to find the ponies and send some time with the furry animals. She had arrived on her own horse, but she always gave him free reign, knowing he was smart enough to lead her where she needed to be or arrive when he was needed. Camellia found these ponies adorable. They were a mini horse, making them much cuter than the full size horses she grew up with.

"You can join us by the fire," a voice called to her. She began so engrossed with the ponies she didn't notice someone approach her. She was startled slightly. "We don't bite." Camellia turned toward the voice. It was the man from before, the one that had caused her heart to race and her face to flush. He was coupled with his blond headed brother.

"I don't know any of you," she muttered as she directed her eyes to the ground on his left. "I don't even know your names."

"I'm Fili," the blond brother said. She glanced at him.

"And I'm Kili." The both bowed deeply.

"At your service," they said in unison. This made Camellia smile. It was so different from everything she was accustomed to.

"We'll introduce everyone," Kili started.

"That way you know everyone," Fili continued.

"And you don't have to hide by the ponies."

"I wasn't hiding," she muttered, a bit ashamed, as she bit the corner of her bottom lip and looked toward the ground.

"What do you call this then?" Fili asked, a smile plastered on his face. She looked up.

"Socialising," she responded lightly, "I prefer the companionship of animals to that of people."

"Why is that?"

"They're peaceful," she stated as she shrugged her shoulders. "You don't see herds of goats or flocks of birds pillaging villages, destroying homes and families." She turned back to the ponies. "Most animals are cuter too," she muttered as she nuzzled the pony in front of her. The brothers laughed.

"Come on, flower child," Fili said, making Camellia turn to give him a look, "Let's introduce you to the group." Fili motioned, with a head point, toward the fire. She removed her hand from the pony's coat and started walking toward the group of dwarves surrounding the fire with Kili on her right and Fili on her left.

The addition of the fiery redheaded girl at the fire was noticed immediately, but no one said anything; they just stared. Camellia began to feel uncomfortable as all eyes bored onto her.

"You finally decided to join us, lassie?" Camellia didn't see who spoke, her eyes were focused on the ground, but she responded anyway.

"I figured, since we'll be travelling together for a while, I should, um, get to know, at least, your names…" She fiddled with her fingers as her eyes darted around, uncertain, avoiding eye contact. The dwarves suddenly jumped up and started rambling off their names and various other information. "Uh…" A smile crept onto her face. "I can't understand if you all talk at once…" She said, looking up into the group of excited dwarves.

"Dwalin," answered a sturdy balding dwarf. He had a husky voice that added to his threatening air.

"Balin," stated a shorter white haired dwarf. He had a calm air around him, Camellia noted.

"Bifur," spoke a slightly squinty eyed dwarf. His hair was turning to grey.

"Bofur," said a dwarf with some pretty wicked hair. Camellia noted that he seemed like a very fun-loving person.

"Bombur," declared a copper haired husky dwarf. He didn't have much of a beard; actually, it was just a moustache.

"Gloin," a darker copper haired dwarf said. He had nearly the same air as Dwalin, but it was a bit softer. Camellia theorized it was because he had a family at home.

"Oin," what looked like an older version of Gloin stated. If it wasn't for the severe difference in hair colour, Camellia would be unable to tell Gloin and Oin apart.

"Dori," said a dwarf that resembled her grandfather very closely. The only visible difference was the ears.

"Ori," a young looking dwarf said. He looked a bit absent minded.

"Nori," said a dwarf that had fashioned his hair and beard to make his head a six-pointed star. The complexity of their hairstyles had made Camellia feel a tad embarrassed. She could barely braid her hair and they had created masterpieces out of theirs. All ten dwarves bowed deep and spoke in perfect unison.

"At your service." Another smile appeared on her face. Fili and Kili lead her to an open spot next to the fire.

"So, Camellia – is it? – where are you from?" Dori asked.

"Forodwaith," she answered. Confusion overtook all the faces she could see. "It's north. Way north. It took about two weeks of constant travel to reach here by tonight."

"What way did you go?"

"Straight down. There's isn't much between here and Forodwaith. I think…" she began digging through her bag, "I have a map here…ah, there it is." She pulled out a long scroll and began unrolling it. From the fire's light, they could see a fairly detailed map. There were several circles off in the margins that showed captures from the centre of those places. "It's unfinished, but you can see that it's nearly completely flat from the mountains in Forodwaith to The Shire."

"Did you draw this?" Nori asked.

"Yes. I apologise, it's not very good." There was a large commotion where none of the words uttered were understandable. The map was taken from her hands and examined by everyone.

"…use of colour…"

"…such detail…"

"It's unfinished," Camellia started, "That's another reason I responded to quickly to Gandalf's request."

"That's why there's empty circles?"

"Yes. I can't fit everywhere on there, so I just put my favourite places."

"Forodwaith isn't on here," Oin stated.

"Just because I live there doesn't mean I like it. There are so few things to like about that prison…" she muttered. She gently retrieved her map and rolled it back up to place it in her bag.

"So, Camellia, tell us about yourself," Fili said, taking a seat next to her.

"And about this prison home," Kili verbalized as he took the other spot next to her. The other dwarves took seats elsewhere to prepare to hear her story.

"There's isn't much about me that's worth hearing." She stated simply. "I was born in Forodwaith a seemingly long time ago. It was a cold late winter morning, right before a storm; that's what my mum told me. Growing up, I lead a normal life, until I learned to walk. When I wasn't given enough attention I would break something. I once broke an entire set of crystal because my dad was much too busy with his work to pay attention to me. That was the first time I was given a physical punishment. As I got older, I became bored with having to do household chores and help cook the family meals so I would always sneak off to practise archery. My mum always encouraged me to dream, so I did. To this day, she was the only one who encouraged me to do anything other than chores. I think she could see how much I hated it. About twenty years ago was the first time I ran away from home. I don't understand who wouldn't. Forodwaith is barren. It's so cold and we always have blizzards. I swear, I think even the sun tried to avoid there." She paused, trying to find a new place to start. "There became a point, a bit after I learned to form coherent sentences, that physical punishment didn't work anymore. Most of my dad's peons still use it, but it doesn't get them anywhere. I actually enjoy taunting them. They never have that hard of hits and the battle of wits continues because when they try, it does nothing. It might bruise, but it never hurts, so I insult them." She paused again, letting her words sink in. "Boundaries are arbitrary lines that I adore crossing. If I acted as I was supposed to, I would be boring and life would be a drag."

"So you joined us," Bofur said.

"I saw it as the perfect opportunity. Look," she gestured behind her, "There's a huge world out there that our eyes only see a fraction of. My feet are small, especially when compared to the world outside. I want to know if the sky is blue everywhere and if the grass is always green. I want to live a life worth telling about, worth writing stories about. I want to be of legends and myths and how can I be that if I stay inside all the time? I taught myself how to fight so I can go on crazy adventures and experience the world first hand." She looked down at her lap. "My mother never got the chance to travel, so, for her, I'll travel and I'll tell her about it all when I see her again." Her voice got very soft.

"Why couldn't she?" Balin asked. She looked up and gave him a small smile.

"She fell in love and married. You can't travel when you're carrying a new life. My mother was never much of a fighter anyway. The only weapon she had ever held was a knife. And one must know how to defend oneself if one desires to travel this troubled world." She looked up. "The stars here, they're different from the ones I see at home."


	3. Chapter 3: Lemongrass

_A/N Thank you to all of those of you who have taken the time to read my story and write a review or follow or favourite or whatever! It is because of you that I find the energy to continue to fight through my writer's block to produce the chapters you wait for. This story started out as something I did for my own pleasure, but because of you lovelies, it is now for you and your enjoyment. I hope this next instalment is enjoyable_

_P.S. I do apologise for the late update. I haven't had internet for three weeks and I also made a goof and broke my computer, but it's been fixed!_

The night past quickly for Camellia. The past several nights, she was forced to sleep on the hard rocky earth of the path she travelled down from Forodwaith. The soft green grass of The Shire was a nice change. Her comfortable night was cut short when the sunlight had placed itself on her eye lids. Her eyes opened to the vast expanse of blue sky before her. She looked around to see that even the watch had dozed off. She was surprised that the snores of the dwarves haven't woken her up earlier. She threw her blanket off and stretched.

"Oi, it's time to get up," she said to the dwarf next to her. She believed his name was Fili. She shook him lightly. "Oi." He stirred. His eyes opened slightly. "It's time to get up." Fili groaned and turned away from her. She sighed and tried again on the dwarf on her other side. It was the dark haired brother, Kili. "Don't fall back asleep. It's time to get up." Their eyes connected again for a moment. Her cheeks turned red and she looked away, trying to make it seem like she needed to fold up her things. "Get the others up, will you?" He grunted and slowly got up.

Waking up a bunch of dwarves was a lot harder than Camellia thought it would be. She believed that not even the cry of a Nazgûl would wake them. Shaking didn't work. Raising her voice didn't work. She even tried kicking them, but she hurt herself more than them. Kili was barely making more headway than she was. A doe crossing Camellia's vision sparked an idea. Grabbing her bow and one arrow, she took aim and pierced the deer's eye. Quick and easy. She took off toward her kill, apologizing along the way for ending such an innocent life.

Kili watched as Camellia hurdled over something he could not see. She seemed to be pulling something along behind her; her left arm was behind her and she was slightly hunched over as she walked back to camp. She dropped the carcass next to the barely burning fire.

"It's gutted and skinned; you just have to cook it. I assume the smell should wake them," she addressed Kili as she removed the pelt from her shoulder.

"How did you…" he began. She tossed a bloodied arrow at his feet. She looked up, but she was unable to make eye contact.

"Straight through the eye," she said as she pointed to her own. "Instant kill." She turned around and continued packing her things. "You might want to start cooking that soon before vultures come and take it."

The smell of cooking meat was a much better alarm than the small ginger girl. She was much better with packing up the camp and loading it onto the backs of the ponies then trying to wake up a bunch of stubborn dwarves. It took less than ten minutes for the dwarven company to devour the deer, and that was more than enough time to clean up the mess left behind.

"Oi! Don't you want to eat some?" Bofur asked when she reappeared by the camp fire.

"Oh no, that's alright. Eat as much as you want. I've already eaten," she lied. The truth was that Camellia was bothered by eating meat. She didn't view it proper to end another living creature's life when they weren't threatening her. Fili was quite right, she is a flower child. Camellia was just about to take a seat in the only open space when the sound of horse hooves trotting on the ground reached her ears. All eyes were draw to were the sound originated. A large solid white horse was approaching the camp fast. "Alesdair," she addressed the horse as he shortened the distance between them. He was nearly twice her height.

"He's yours?!"

"Yes. I raised him from a colt. Much easier to saddle then…" she muttered and she placed a thick woollen blanket on his back. The tall white beast kneeled, allowing the placement of a heavy leather saddle on his back.

"How are you supposed to ride when you can't even mount your horse?"

"Alesdair is very smart. When I'm having trouble, he kneels, just like this, so I don't have to find something to stand on." She pulled the straps on the saddle snug and Alesdair knew it was okay to stand again. He trotted over to a patch of grass and began grazing. A snigger escaped her lips. "Always eating," she muttered as she reclaimed the empty space by the fire.

"Are all the horses that big where you're from?" Ori asked, a sparkle of curiosity in his eyes.

"Yeah. Everything is pretty big in Forodwaith, but I'm pretty short. Everything seems big to me," she laughed.

"Why?"

"Why is everything so big, or why am I so short?"

"Both…?"

"My father's a dwarf. My mother was the princess of Forodwaith. It wasn't until my parents had met that anyone in Forodwaith had seen anyone shorter than the adolescents. I'm really glad that the only thing I had inherited from my dad was his height, oh, and his hair. I don't think I could live with a beard," she joked again as she grabbed her cheeks.

"What was your mother?"

"A princess."

"I meant - "

"I know, but that's irrelevant," her tone was light, "She wasn't short so it doesn't tie into my height." Before anyone else could speak, Thorin stood and addressed the company.

"It's time to leave." His and Camellia's eyes met for just a moment, and she saw a dislike for her presence in the company. She didn't expect anything less, but she thought he wouldn't have been so obvious about it. That wasn't going to stop her adventure though. If anything, it was going to drive her to prove her worth, for someone other than her mother.

Shortly after they had departed the Shire, a voice caught their attention. Bilbo was running after them, contract in hand. A smile overtook almost everyone's face. Their burglar was joining them at last.

The little hobbit didn't seem to like the idea of riding a pony all that great. He had sneezed a few times.

"We need to go back!" Bilbo called, "I've forgotten my handkerchief." Camellia snickered. Bofur ripped a small part of his tunic and threw it at him.

"Here, use this!" Bilbo looked at it in disgust.

"You will have to do without pocket handkerchiefs and a vast number of other things," Gandalf told Bilbo as they continued on.

The day passed slowly. The sun hot as it sat on Camellia's face. She had removed several layers of clothing to cool herself down. Her body was used to the frigid cold, sharp winds, and sunless days. Though it was beautiful here, she wished it was colder. Camellia was one layer away from being in her undergarments.

"Not used to this weather, eh?" Bofur asked.

"No," she responded with a chuckle. "It's a lot colder where I'm from. This is the first time I've seen the sun in years."

"You're joking, right?" Fili asked.

"No. It's always storming up in Forodwaith." She looked toward the sun. "I never imagined the sun could get so warm…"

The company continued north east until the sun began its descent behind the horizon. They set up camp next to a small stone mountain. The fire was started immediately and dinner was being served shortly afterwards.

"Where's that girl off to now?" Gloin questioned the group when he had noticed that she was not present by the fire.

"Maybe she's gone to find water?" Someone offered, but no one really knew. Her bow and quiver were missing so they felt no need to worry about her, until a cry call out into the night.

"What was that?" Bilbo asked.

"Orcs," Kili answered.

"Orcs?"

"Throat cutters. They'll be dozens of them out there," Fili stated, "The lowlands are crawling with them."

"They strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet. No screams, just lots of blood…" Kili continued. Bilbo's eyes held fear as he looked off in the distance. Fili and Kili chuckled.

"You think that's funny?" Thorin asked. "You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?"

"We didn't mean anything by it," Kili said quickly as he looked down.

"No you didn't. You know nothing of the world." Fili and Kili knew that they had taken their joke a little too far as they watched their uncle storm away. Camellia and Thorin crossed paths. She knew he was angry so she kept her head down and rushed passed him. She sat by the fire.

She hadn't bothered to ask any question even though she was confused throughout all of Balin's explanation.

'_What provoked Thorin?' _ she thought to herself. She stared into the fire as she contemplated things that could have angered the company's leader.

"Your hair's wet," Fili said, knocking Camellia out of her head.

"Hmm?"

"Your hair, it's wet," Fili repeated.

"Oh, yeah, there's a river over there," she pointed. "I hadn't been able to bathe in two weeks. I figured now would be better than later."

"Two weeks?" Kili questioned, a bit alarmed.

"But it you looked like you'd never been outside."

"Lemongrass. Helps eliminate smell and grease and keeps the bugs away. It's also a wonderful addition to any dish."

"I thought you said Forodwaith was barren…?"

"It is, completely, but I picked it up in a small village a day and a half's journey from home. It's surprising abundant. I have found it growing wild nearly everywhere the weather has been fair. I'm trying to dry out some of my supply so I can make a tea out of it."

"What else can it be used for?"

"A lot of things, I assume. It's an herb so the possibilities are endless. I just like it for the smell."

"That's why you bought it?" Kili asked, intrigued. She thought about it for a moment.

"Yeah. Basically." Camellia stifled a yawn. "I'm going to head to bed. See you in the morning." She walked off toward a lone tree and set out her bed next to it. She was out in minutes, the smell of the lemongrass in her hair helping her drift off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4: Caves and Crevices

The next few days and nights were uneventful. Every morning started the same: they woke, ate, packed, and started travelling again. Lunch was always short, they had to keep moving, and dinner was always very slow arriving. The weather was always the same: hot, sunny, and long. Today was different. The sun was hidden behind a thick veil of clouds and the rain was unyielding. Everyone was soaked through and the ponies, and Alesdair, kept getting caught up in the mud.

Everyone was tucked away in their cloaks, except Camellia. She figured that she was going to get wet anyway why should she dig out her cloak? She didn't mind her wet hair sticking to her moistened face or how her light clothes clung to her body. They have been travelling together long enough to have already formed their opinions of her, she didn't mind them seeing her clothes stick a bit too close to her body.

Even when the rain stopped, the air still hung thickly with water. When the clouds had cleared and the sun came out, everyone wished for the rain again. Being dangled over a fire would have been better than travelling through this humidity. A look of irritation occupied Camellia's face. Now was the worst time to be damp. Searching through her bag, she found a piece of fabric tied in a circle. She used it to tie her hair up and out of her face. It was messy and was probably knotted, but she didn't care, she was cooling down.

When the sun had gone done, the temperature dropped considerably. It didn't take long for the dwarves to make a fire and start in on dinner. The youngest brothers were asked to watch the ponies, but they didn't have eyes as sharp as they thought.

"What's the matter?" Bilbo asked as he held two bowls.

"We're supposed to be looking out for the ponies."

"Only, we've encountered a slight problem."

"We had 16."

"Now there's 14." The three of them looked around, searching for evidence of what happened to the ponies. Some trees were uprooted. All the dirt was agitated. Something strong had rummaged through the forest and taken the dwarves' ponies. They ended up crouching behind an uprooted tree so they could look through a small clearing in the trees.

_Trolls_

Fili and Kili had convinced Bilbo to go forward and free the ponies while they snuck off back to camp to alert the rest.

"Trolls! Trolls have the ponies!" Kili shouted as they re-entered camp. All eyes landed on the brothers.

"We've sent the burglar in," Fili said after his brother.

"Alone? Are you insane?!" Thorin yelled at them. All thirteen dwarves began toward the trolls' camp in a hurry. Halfway there, Dwalin called out.

"Where's the lassie?" They looked behind, but saw no one. No one had seen her after sunset.

"She'll be fine. Let's save our burglar," Thorin muttered as he pushed through the forest.

No one had gone in with any plan and all of them had ended up the same: about to become troll food. Everyone was afraid. They couldn't escape and hearing the trolls talk about how they're going to eat their capture was not helping their rising fears.

"Did you hear that?" The troll rotating the turner over the fire said as he looked into the forest.

"It's just the wind." There was no wind that night, but the trolls were more than just slow in their movements.

"Wait! You are making a terrible mistake. I meant with the, uh, with the seasoning." The trolls looked toward Bilbo.

"What about the seasonings," one of the trolls turned away from the fire to ask the hobbit.

"Have you smelt them? You're going to need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up."

"What do you know about cooking dwarves?"

"Shud up! Let the, uh, flerurberhobbit talk."

"The secret to cooking dwarf is…" Bilbo hesitated. He didn't know anything about cooking dwarfs. It never crossed his mind before. He was stumbling over his words and the trolls were getting impatient. "to skin them first!" Naturally, the dwarves protested. The trolls began to argue.

"What a load of wubbish! I like them better with their skins on!" Bombur was plucked off the ground by the troll in the back. He dangled the copper haired dwarf over his head.

"Nice and crunchy." Something flew out from the trees and hit against one of the trolls. It was deflected.

"What was that?" the trolls turned toward the forest.

"Not that one! He's…infected! He's got worms, in his…tubes!" Bombur was thrown back into the pile. "In fact, they all do. They're infested with parasites. It's a terrible business, I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't."

"Did he say parasites?" Bifur asked.

"We don't have parasites!" Kili shouted, offended. "You have parasites!" Grumbles came from all the dwarves. Bilbo was seconds away from shaking his head in disbelief. Thorin understood before too long and he kicked his nephew to get him to shut his mouth. The dwarves were silent for a moment.

"I've got parasites as big as my arm!" Bifur exclaimed.

"Mine are the biggest parasites! I've got huge parasites!" Kili shouted again. Grumbles erupted again.

"We're riddled!"

"Yes we are," Dori agreed.

"What would you have us do then?" The troll asked Bilbo. Suddenly, a mass jumped out and landed on top of one of their heads. Camellia was standing with her bow pointed down. Her arrow pierced through the troll's eye. She jumped down before he could grab her. Arrows can't do much damage against the hard skin of the trolls, but the longer she could distract them, the better the chance there was for her dwarven friends. She was a lot quicker than the trolls and a bunch smarter too. She had run them into the spit over the fire, knocking it to the ground and saving the dwarves from the fire's heat.

She had blinded two of them and was still avoiding capture when Gandalf appeared and broke a boulder in the east allowing the sun to reach the trolls. They were turned to stone. It vaguely reminded Camellia of the story of Medusa that her mother told her when she was a little girl. She was knocked out of her memories when she heard the strugglings of the dwarves as they tried to get out of the bags. She pulled out a small dagger and helped removed her friends from the canvas sacks.

The night was gone. Their chance for rest had been depleted when the trolls had taken their ponies. Today's travels were going to be long.

"Where did you go, if I may ask?" Thorin asked Gandalf

"Looking ahead."

"What brought you back?"

"Looking behind." Gandalf was still as witty as ever. The troop headed toward the troll hoard. It smelt ranched. Camellia used most of her strength to not vomit as she let her curiosity lead her deeper into the cave. Of all the treasures that she had seen, none of this was meant to be in the possession of trolls. As she reached the back of the cave, the dwarves began to exit. She was about to turn and leave as well, but something caught her eye. A piece of metal stuck out of the dirt and dust by the back wall. She dug it out. It was a sword, nearly half her height. This weapon seemed familiar to her, but she couldn't recall it. As she pulled it from its sheath, she noticed a familiar writing on the blade. Before she could read it, she heard a ruffling in the forest. She left the troll hoard.

"What's that?" Fili asked when Camellia returned to the group.

"Just some old sword I found."

"It's nearly half your height. You won't be able to use it in battle."

"Something of this craftsmanship should never be used as a weapon." She tied the sword to her bags on her horse.

"Why are you going to keep something you can't use?" Kili piped up. She turned back toward them.

"I don't know. It's pretty, I guess."

"You keep things because you think they are pretty?" Fili asked.

"Well, you don't have much of a purpose, but I keep you two around."

"You're the one who joined us," Kili said, slightly offended.

"You think we're pretty?" Fili asked. Camellia smirked and shook her head. She couldn't believe him. She held her smirk and turned away. Just as she had, there was a rustling in the bushes. A wooden sleigh with a homely looking man rushed toward them. He had some moss growing in his hair and a dishevelled look on his face.

"Radagast!" Gandalf exclaimed.

"You didn't answer me," Fili said, refocusing Camellia's attention.

"Yes, Fili, you're very pretty. You're also very good at ruining insults."

"These are Rhosgobel rabbits! I'd like to see them try," Camellia heard Radagast the Brown said to Gandalf before he disappeared back into the woods. "What was that about?" She started to question before she saw Alesdair walking off in the corner of her eye. "Alesdair! Stop!" She shouted after him, but the stag continued up the hill and out of sight. Camellia sighed.

It wasn't long afterwards until Camellia found out why her beloved companion had walked off. The company had to try their best to avoid the orcs that have found them early that morning. They thought they were in the clear as Radagast chased away the wargs, but one had found the dwarves scent. Kili was the one that had to make the first move, but fear gripped at his arms and fingers as he pulled back the bow string that when the arrow fired, it missed his intended target. Camellia saw his plight and reacted immediately, but she wasn't quick enough. The warg had given off a yelp of pain before Camellia was able to shoot her own arrow into its head. The rest of the orcs were redirected their way. The orcs on top of the warg was still very much alive and had employed an attack before the warg had fallen off the small hill. He was dead before too long as well.

If it wasn't for Gandalf finding a hole, the dwarven company surely would have been dead meat. As soon as all of the company had entered the mysterious cave, arrows fell from the outside world, along with a dead orc. Curious, Thorin ripped out the arrow from the orcs head. He wanted to know who had attacked the orcs.

"Elves!" Thorin exclaimed. He threw down the arrow and stormed off. Camellia had a feeling that she knew where she was, but she hoped she was severely wrong.

"I cannot see where the pathway leads," Dwalin shouted as he stared down the back hallway of the cave. "Do we follow it, or no?"

"Follow it, of course!" Bofur answered as he went to join Dwalin. Everyone followed Bofur. The pathway was narrow, even for the small female amongst them. The sun shone through a crack in the top of the crevice they were in, but they were so far down that the sun's light didn't make much of a difference as they travelled through the damp cave.

The journey was long and rather difficult. The path was very uneven. Eventually, their little crevice widened out and opened up to a high view on a riverside city. It was beautiful.

"The valley of Imladris," Gandalf said. "The common tongue, it's known by another name."

"Rivendell," Bilbo muttered.

_They were in Rivendell. _


	5. Chapter 5: Ears

"This was your plan all along," Thorin accused, "To seek refugee with our enemy!" Camellia couldn't help but agree.

"You have no enemies here, Thorin Oakenshield. The only ill-will to be found in this valley is that which you bring to yourself." Gandalf was angry, though he tried to hide it. And so, the dwarves marched on into Rivendell. No one was more upset with their location than Thorin, but Camellia was a close second.

Their arrival in Rivendell was unnoticed. A tall and lithe dark haired elf descended the stairs. He paid no heed to the dwarves when he spoke in a foreign tongue to Gandalf.

"Ah, Lindir." They greeted each other. Camellia took a step behind Fili. He noticed immediately and looked over his shoulder at her. She placed a finger on her lips. He gave a small nod and turned back. The elf spoke again in a foreign tongue. "I must speak with Lord Elrond."

"My Lord Elrond is not here." This was the first time he spoke in a language the dwarves understood.

"Not here? Where is he?" Before Lindir could answer, a horn sounded in the air. Everyone turned toward the bridge the dwarves, Bilbo and Camellia entered on. Soon, large horses could be seen galloping toward the city. Thorin muttered something in the dwarven tongue.

"Close ranks!" Thorin shouted for everyone to hear. The dwarves and Bilbo closed in around the centre of the tiled circle they stood upon. Camellia was pushed in closer and nearly completely concealed from the elven city by the dwarves that were much taller than herself. Horses of brown and white trotted around the huddled group. A top these beautiful creatures sat elves. Fair skinned, dark haired, pointed face elves. To Bilbo, and a fair deal of others, the elves were a beautiful people, but the dwarves and Camellia thought quite different.

"Gandalf," Elrond greeted.

"Lord Elrond," Gandalf responded. Gandalf began to speak in the foreign tongue. Elrond and Gandalf shared in a small conversation that none of the dwarves or Bilbo understood as Elrond dismounted. They shared in a small hug.

"Strange for orcs to come so close to our borders. Something, or someone, has drawn them near."

"Ah, that may have been us," Gandalf said as he motioned to the company. A very faint glare of hate shown in Elrond's eyes for half a second. Thorin stepped in front of the group, asserting himself as the leader.

"Welcome Thorin, son of Thrain."

"I do not believe we have met." A vague appreciation littered his tone. How did the elf know of Thorin?

"You have your grandfather's barring. I knew Thor when he ruled under the mountain."

"Indeed. He made no mention of you." There was the bitter and harsh tone. Camellia had to stifle a giggle. This row was entertaining. Elrond's eyes flickered to Camellia for a moment before returning back to Thorin. Elrond began speaking in that foreign tongue again. Tension was rising among the dwarves.

"What is he sayin'?!" Gloin asked, anger present in his voice, as he advanced. "Does he offer us insult?!"

"No, Master Gloin, he is offering you food." The dwarven company, save Thorin, gathered in a huddle to discuss. This discussion group made Camellia even more noticed.

"Well, in that case, lead on," Gloin said, all anger diminished. The best way to a dwarf's heart is through his stomach. The dwarves started walking toward Elrond, leaving the hiding Camellia unhid. She hurried on behind Kili and kept her head down as low as she could. As she passed Elrond, he whispered something to her in his foreign tongue. Camellia ducked her head down farther and rushed up the stairs.

They all sat at a low wooden table. Bowls upon bowls were set out, plates over-filled, but the dwarves remained hungry. This food in front of them was more foreign than the elven language. Only Bilbo and Camellia had dared to attempted to eat the food presented to them.

"Try it. Just a mouthful," Dori told Ori. Ori wrinkled his nose.

"I don't like green food," Ori said as he placed the large piece of lettuce back on his plate. Dwalin stuck his hand in the bowl in front of him and pulled out almost all of the lettuce.

"Where's the meat?" He threw the lettuce back in the bowl. He looked around as if someone was hiding it.

"There is none," Camellia responded. "Elves don't eat meat."

"Well, why not?" Dwalin asked, irritated.

"Elves respect all life. If they can avoid it, they don't slay animals for food."

"That's foolish."

"My father used to say that too," she muttered into her food.

"What was that?" Dori asked.

"Nothing," she responded as she stuffed food into her mouth. Elven music filled the air. Nori stuffed napkins in his ear horn to block out the sound. Gandalf and Elrond finally entered the hall and took their places at the head of the table.

Gandalf convinced Thorin to give up his newly found sword to Elrond. Elrond pulled the blade from its sheath and examined it for a short moment.

"This is the Orcrist. The goblin cleaver. The famous blade. Forged by the high elves of the west. My kin. May it serve you well." Thorin gave a small bow and took back the sword. Camellia stared at her empty plate as she listened to the music behind her. It was not so different from the music of her mother's people.

"This is the Glamdring," Elrond said as he took Gandalf's sword. "The Foe-Hammer. Sword of the king of Gondolin." Across the table, Bilbo pulled out his own sword.

"I wouldn't bother laddie," Balin told the hobbit. "Swords are named for the great deeds they do in battle."

"What are you saying, my sword hasn't seen battle?"

"I'm not sure it's a sword." Bilbo looked down at his sword. "More of a letter opener." The sword the Gandalf had found for Bilbo was very small. Small enough for a hobbit. To the Big people it would be nothing more than a letter opener or a bread knife.

"How did you come by these?" Elrond asked Gandalf.

"We found them in a troll hoard on the Great East road shortly before we were ambushed by orcs."

"And what were you doing on the Great East road?" A slight irritation was present in Elrond's voice as he turned toward Thorin during his question.

All of the company, except for Thorin and Balin, were relocated to a large open room. A small fire burned in the centre of the floor. In spite of their current location, the dwarves seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves. They were all laughing and joking and had even had Bombur fall through a table. In the midst of all the chaos, Camellia snuck out the door.

She wandered under the rising moon along the river. Her shoes were long discarded inside the room at the top of the tower with all the dwarves; her trousers were rolled up to just under her knee. She watched the water lap around her porcelain feet. Her charcoal stick brushed against the parchment book in her hand as she sketched the sight before her.

When the moon was high in the sky, Camellia had sat down at the water's edge. By the city's light, she began to etch the face of her attractive company mate.

"Camellia, what are you doing here?" A voice called out. She quickly shut her book and shoved it into her bag.

"Relaxing."

"Did you come here with the dwarves?" A tall female sat next to Camellia.

"Yes. Why are you here, Arwen?"

"The colour of your hair is not easy to miss, even in the moonlight. Have you been travelling like that?" Arwen motioned to Camellia's attire.

"Yes. With my height, none of the soldier's attire fit. I fixed it as well as I could." Arwen grabbed Camellia's hand and pulled her up. They walked back up to the city.

In two hours' time, Camellia was sent back in one of Arwen's old dresses and three new sets of clothes tailored just for Camellia's strange silhouette and her original outfit adapted. When she arrived back at their room, everyone was passed out on the floor. Their snores were so loud, they didn't hear the door close or her shuffling across the floor around the sleeping bodies. Once her modified clothes were packed in her bag and a blanket was pulled out, Camellia went to sleep.

A cool breeze blew through the room. The fire had been long extinguished. Bilbo had been awoken first. When he had fallen asleep, the room was warm and a bit stuffy, but now, the fire was gone and the room was cold. He retrieved his blanket and fell back to sleep before too long. Groups of two or three would wake up, pull a blanket over them and fall back to sleep. No one had noticed the little red head had returned. Very few had noticed she left at all. When Kili woke up, he rolled over onto his side and noticed Camellia was curled up next to him. She looked a lot different. Her normal green and brown archer outfit was replaced with a light blue long sleeve dress. Her hair was pulled back into a braid that was now falling out. Stray hairs stuck to her face and in the air. Kili didn't know how long he had stared at her or why he had woken up in the first place. The moonlight caused her skin to glow more than usual and he couldn't help but think that she looked even more beautiful in her sleep.

"Kili…" Her voice broke his thoughts. "I can't sleep when you're staring at me." She opened one eye. She didn't realise how close he was. It startled her, but she tried not to show it. If either one of them breathed a bit harder, the other one would feel it on their face. "What woke you?"

"I don't know. What woke you?"

"Your unrelenting gaze." Both of her light blue eyes stared into his warm brown ones. "I don't know what you're trying to accomplish, but no matter how hard you stare, you're not going to burn a hole." A faint red surfaced on his cheeks. "Go back to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us." Camellia rolled over. Kili thought he saw a misshapen top of her ear, but he assumed it was just the way the light was.

_Dwarves don't have pointed ears._


	6. Chapter 6: Story Time

The company left early the next morning. As much as they didn't like to admit it, that was their most comfortable night since before they had departed from the Blue Mountains. Camellia had lost her long night gown and had thrown on the new clothes the elf maidens had constructed for her. Her horse, along with the few ponies left after the orc attack, travelled along behind the company as they hiked up the side of the mountain.

As they travelled, storm clouds began to form in the north. The farther up they went, the darker the clouds seemed to get. The darker the clouds got, the hotter the air got. "Why is it so hot?" Fili groaned as he dropped his cloak from his shoulders.

"There's a storm coming," Camellia answered. "Once it comes through, it'll be colder." She was also without her cloak and most of her clothes. Her trousers were rolled up to her knees and her shoes were tucked away in her bag. Her tunic was discarded on the back on her horse and her undershirt had the sleeves torn off. It was old and worn and hung loosely on her frame. It slide around on her shoulders, falling off every now and then, driving the tired female frantic. Eventually, she pulled the ribbon that held her hair out and tied it between the two ends of her shirt, pulling the top close together and not giving it any freedom to move around.

By midday, the storm clouds had darkened and had met the dwarven company on the mountainside. The temperature had risen as the day dragged on and the dwarves continued to head higher and higher. Camellia had retrieved her cloak and shoes from the back of her horse and thrown it on not a moment before the rain began to fall. It came down in sheets.

"The heat doesn't bother you much now, does it?" Camellia asked, a smirk graced her lips. Fili scoffed as he quickly threw on his cloak. They continued up.

Thunder rolled through the sky. Lightning cracked across the dark clouds and one bolt hit not five feet above their heads. The rocks beneath their feet became slippery and dangerous to continue to travel on, but there was no shelter. Bilbo had been the first one to slip and almost fall into the depths of the mountain range.

"We must find shelter!" Thorin shouted over the sounds of the storm. Not long after, a large rock came flying through the air and hit above them. It shattered and rained down.

"This is no thunderstorm," Balin stated. "It's a thunder battle!" The mountains began to move.

"I've read about these," Camellia muttered. "But the books never depicted the true beauty."

"Beauty!" Bofur snorted. She looked at him with curiosity. Before she could respond, the mountain ledge they were on began to move. Their narrow path just became narrower and split in half, separating the company. The split happened between Fili and Kili, leaving Fili along with Ori, Dwalin, Bombur, Bofur, and Nori separated from everyone else. Bits of rocks continued to fall like rain.

"Such ferocity…" Camellia said in awe. When the rock giant they were on fell, Thorin lead as many as he could off onto stable ground. From their stable land, they could watch the thunder battle continue. No one had noticed the lack of ponies.

Falling rock continued to threaten to injure. Their fellow dwarves remained struggling to stay on the giant, until it had crashed. All rushed to the crash site to try and help their friends. They were relived to find their friends unhurt.

"Where's Bilbo? Where the hobbit?" Bofur asked, looking around in a panic. "There!" Bilbo was hanging on to the edge of the slippery rocks. His feet could not find any traction on the side of the mountain. Camellia was the first to grab a hold of his hand and begin pulling up, but her shoes had little traction and she nearly fell with him. Kili grabbed a hold of her waist and pulled her up, but Bilbo's grip wasn't strong enough to hold on and he fell about a foot farther down. Thorin was the one who had pulled him up, in turn for his own safety. Luckily, Dwalin had caught him just in time. Now everyone was safe.

"I thought we lost our burgular," Dwalin said with a heavy breath.

"He's been lost ever since he left home," Thorin said, turning away from the group. "He should have never of come. He has no place among us."

"That's unfair to say!" Camellia called out. "Bilbo gave up his home on such short notice for your meeting! He left his home to help you! He saved you from becoming troll food! And you have the audacity to say he doesn't belong?!" She shouted. "The only one who hasn't accepted him as part of this group is you!" Thorin turned and glared her down, but she was not intimidated. "Every single person here has done something to help the group! Everyone here belongs!"

"What have you done then?!" Thorin shouted back. "You have been little more than dead weight!" Camellia looked down and snickered.

"With the skill of your nephews, I haven't had much of a chance to help. You're right. The best I had done was a little distracting the trolls, but I hadn't planned to be "dead weight". My initial plan was to join in on the adventure, but when I had heard you were the leader, I wanted to see how much you were like your sister." Daggers flew from Thorin's eyes to Camellia's form. "I understand it has been such a long time, but I would have thought you would have at least a spark of a memory," she muttered, but Thorin heard her. She walked past him and into the cave they found moments before. Her final words had confused him.

"What are you talking about?!" Thorin demanded as he followed her into the cave. She turned to him. Even in the dark he could see the glow of her eyes.

"Look at my face. It should look familiar to you." They stared at each other for a long while, until everyone else began to file in and Camellia turned to squeeze as much water off of her as she could. Sand from the cave floor stuck to her boots and the bottom of her cloak. She sat down on her cloak and removed her shoes. Her feet were soaked.

"You shouldn't have called him out like that," Fili said as took a seat next to her. "You've made him mad."

"I know that."

"What were you talking about earlier?" Kili asked, taking a seat next to her other side.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out."

"Aw, come on, let us know!" Fili whined.

"Nope."

"Please?" Kili begged.

"Want to hear a story?" Camellia asked.

"No, we want to know what you meant," Fili insisted.

"Want to hear a story?" She repeated.

"Why do you want to tell us this story so bad?" Fili asked.

"I just want to hear a good story. It's been awhile since I've heard any story."

"We could tell you a story," Bofur offered.

"How would I know it's a good one? I know my story is good."

"Fine. Tell us the story," Bofur said, taking a seat in front of her.

"Okay. One afternoon, many moons ago, on one of the rare sunny winter days in the far north, a maiden was born. She had skin as fair as the moon and hair nearly as fair as her skin. Her eyes were such a light blue it was hard to tell there was any colour at all. As she grew up in her northerly kingdom she began to carve world travel. The northern kingdom was in a time of peace so shortly after her 70th birthday, she gathered a few things and took off on a horse. For three weeks she travelled south. Eventually she found herself in a small mountain village. There she met a short stocky, newly wed woman. This village woman couldn't believe the fair maiden in front of her was real. She was nearly twice the height of the village woman and was as light as the snow, not to mention extremely beautiful.

"The fair maiden and the village woman made quick friends and before the sun had met the horizon they were dinning together inside the village woman's home. There, the maiden met the woman's husband and learned that her new friend might be expecting. This was the first night of many that the two women spent together.

"After nearly three months, the maiden had to head home. She bid her friend a farewell and promised to write every day. A few days into her journey home, she met a war hero in a seaside city. Without noticing, she wasted another two months with the hero in his seaside home. In the short time that she had stayed with this man, she knew he had to meet her parents, so early one morning the two set off toward the north. Every night, the maiden wrote to her friend and sent it off the next morning. Every few days she would receive a letter back, detailing what had changed since the last letter.

"When the couple arrive in the northerly kingdom, there was an immediate dislike for the maiden's choice in a mate. His kind didn't get along too well with her kind, but love is blind. It took several months for her parents to accept him and once they had accepted him, the maiden and the war hero got married. Not too long afterwards, she was expecting.

"Around the same time, the maiden's friend from the mountain village was expecting her second child. The maiden gave birth to a baby girl. She had her mother's face, but her father's flamboyant hair. Her village friend had gave birth to another boy. After a few years, once the baby girl could walk quite well on her own, the small family took a trip down to the mountain village to surprise the maiden's best friend.

"They arrived a few weeks later and stayed with the village woman and her family. Her husband came down with an illness several weeks before and succumbed, leaving her to tend to her two growing boys by herself. When the fair maiden left her young daughter alone for just a few short minutes, she had run off with her friend's two boys. The three were not seen all afternoon. All three children got along very well for the few weeks that the families were mingled. Every few days, the village woman's brother would check into the make sure that his younger sister was okay. He was a real hard ass, but underneath all that hard rock was a kind hearted teddy bear.

"The families had to separate once again, but the little girl never forgot the friends she made. When the fair maiden and her family returned to their home, her parents handed over the kingdom to her and her husband. The fair skinned princess began a queen, with the love of her life right beside her.

"With a growing child, it was hard to devote a lot of time toward the kingdom, especially one that had a deep sense for adventure. The growing girl would always sneak into the armoury and grab her mother's bow to go and practise. The queen was very tall and slender, her daughter, not so much. She had not only inherited her father's hair, but also his height. Her mother's bow was taller than she was, but nonetheless, she still learned to shoot from it, and she shot well.

"On her 50th birthday, she was given her own bow, one made especially for her. It was a good thing too because not quite a year later, a month before her 51st birthday, there was an orc raid on the castle. Like the adventurous girl she was, she joined the troops. She helped clear out the interior before heading back up the tower to her room. Before she reached the top of the stairs, a scream ripped through the air. It wasn't just any scream. It was the scream of the queen. The scream of her mother.

"She raced up the stairs as fast as she could toward the scream. It seemed to take an eternity to reach her mother's room, but when she did, she wished she had stayed upstairs with her mother. Staying with his back to the door, an orc stood over her mother, sword dipping with the queen's blood. She doesn't know what happen. Everything was a blur. She just remembers holding her mother in her arms, watching her breathe her last breaths as she bleed on onto the floor. The orc lay behind them, headless.

"Time slowed once again. The young girl's eyes were blurred with tears as her mother stared up at her. Her mother wiped the tears from her face and said,

""Don't cry, child. I'm not afraid to die because I have you as a daughter. You may have inherited your father's physical attributes, but you are just like I was when I was your age. I will always live on in you as long as you live your life your way." She took one last breath before saying, "Don't let anyone dictate your life." And with that, she passed on. Her daughter cried out in woe. She wailed on as she carried her mother's body to the bed in the corner. She crossed her mother's hands across her stomach and walked out. She re-joined the battle. Blood stains on her clothing reminded her just how much she hated the orcs and it fuelled a rage that carried her through the battle.

"It had taken her several months to stop crying and even longer for her sorrow to subside enough that she could function well again. She couldn't stand being inside for too long because she began to dwell in her mother's death so she would so often spend days out in the stables with the horses. Aside from riding the horses and training with her bow, she would spend long hours walking through three foot high snow piles and throwing snowballs at the stable walls.

"One morning, she received a letter, asking her if she wanted to partake in an adventure. Enthused for the way away, she quickly packed up her things, grabbed her horse and left, with just a simple note on the dining table for her father.

"It took her nearly two weeks to travel from her home to this meeting place mentioned in the letter. It was a very beautiful place. Tall green grasses, clear blue ponds, and sky as far as the eye could see. She did her best to depict the sights before her onto paper, but they will never hold the wonder and beauty that was that small countryside.

"The story of the daughter of the queen continues to this day. She still travels with the group she met on the countryside and she has never regretted it. I wish I could tell you more of her story, but it's not over yet."

"So, this was a sad story?" Ori asked.

"No. It's a story about a woman who overcame adversity and changed the views of a large group of people. While she may not still be here, her daughter lives on, continuing her legacy and continuing to change the world."

"Who is her daughter?" Kili asked.

"That's another story for another night."

"But we want to know now!" Ori complained.

"You need sleep," she replied as she turned over. "We all do. Good night." The group was flustered at how easily she avoided their questions, but she was fast asleep and there was nothing they could do about it. Everyone turned in for the night.

When they awoke, it wasn't because it was morning. Thorin's voice called out in the middle of the night awakening them all. As soon as they opened their eyes, they began to fall, and they continued to fall until they hit a hard wooden floor. Dwarf on top of dwarf, hobbit on top of everyone else. Camellia was stuck somewhere in the middle. Before they knew what had happened, goblins ran and plucked them off one by one. All of them fought back, but they were severely outnumbered. Their weapons were stripped off of them and the goblins gave them each a rough pat down. A few goblins tried to remove Camella's cloak, but she held it to herself tighter and tried to bear the feelings of violation. Eventually, after several rough shoves and a tear in the fabric of her cloak, she snapped. She turned right around and punched the goblin who ripped her clothes. It knocked him flat on his backside.

"I am a lady!" She exclaimed, "You must treat me like one!" She pushed through to take a spot next to the youngest brothers. She continued to hold her cloak tightly to her body, but she felt safer in-between the two boys. They were stopped in front of a much larger goblin. He had a chin that reached almost to his collarbone and it wiggled like raw meat. It was disturbing.

"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom?" The large gross goblin asked. "Spies? Thieves? Assassins?!" His voice echoed through the underground town.

"Dwarves, your malevolence," a goblin in front of the company replied.

"Dwarves?!"

"Found 'em on the front porch."

"Well, don't just stand there! Search them!" The goblins began to attack the company again. "Every crack! Every crevice!" Many things were pulled off and thrown on the floor. Once again Camella's cloak was tugged on, but she threatened with her fist and they left her alone. "What are you doing in these parts?" He asked the company. Silence. "Speak!" Silence. "Very well, if they will not talk, we'll make them squawk!" Cheers erupted from the goblins all around. "Bring up the Mangler! Bring up the Bone Breaker!" A shutter ran through Camellia's spine. She could hear the bones breaking in her mind. "Start with the youngest!" He pointed to Ori. A small smirk picked at Camellia's lips. Ori was not the youngest. Kili was. Fili was a few years older. Both brothers were some 50 years younger than the rest of the group.

"Wait!" Thorin's voice boomed. He stepped forward.

"Well, well, well! Look who it is! Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thor, king under the mountain!" The ugly goblin took a bow. "Oh! But I'm forgetting! You don't have a mountain and you're not a king. Which makes you…nobody, really." Thorin had such a look of hate in his eyes, you could have believed he was staring down an elf. "I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just a head. Nothing attached." Laughs rippled through the goblins. "Perhaps you know of who I speak. An old enemy of yours." If possible, the look in Thorin's eyes got more intense and more deadly. "A pale orc. Astride a white warg."

"Azog, the Defiler, was destroyed. He was slain in battle long ago."

"So, you think his defiling days are done, do you?" The goblin king laughed. "Send word to the pale orc," he told a very small goblin on a swing. "Tell him I have found his prize." The small goblin descended on his little swing into the depths of the cave.

The goblins began to investigate the dwarves' weaponry. Most were ordinary sword and axes, nothing special. Camellia was lucky she left her bow and arrows in a saddlebag. She knew now that if she hadn't her bow would be broken. There was one sword amongst all the others that stood out. It stood out so much that the goblin that have picked it up had quickly thrown it on the floor in front of the goblin king. He retreated into his throne, terrified.

"I know that sword! It is the Goblin Cleaver!" The goblins began hitting the company with leather belts, bats, and their fists. The goblin king yelled out more words, but none of the dwarves, or Camellia could hear him over the goblins climbing and beating on them. The dwarves did what they could to ward off the goblins. The vast number overwhelmed them. Everyone was fighting for their lives now. Just as they thought they were goners, a bright flash of light overcame the area, bringing a strong wind with it. Everyone was thrown until they found ground. Everyone was stunned.

_Gandalf_

"Take up arms. Fight!" Gandalf commanded. "FIGHT!" The company rose to its feet and began anew war against these horrifying looking creatures. Gandalf took out several goblins with both his staff and the Foe Hammer. The dwarves quickly recovered their swords and began hacking away. The unarmed Camellia had nothing to defend herself with, so she used her only weapon: her fists. Using her friends as blocks, she snuck up on several goblins and used her limited skills to beat them down. One swing of Thorin's sword and the goblin king lost his step and fell off the platform.

"Follow me!" Gandalf led them down a narrow wooden pathway. Goblins, basically, crawled out of the wood work and came after them. Because of how narrow the pathway was, only a few goblins could get in the way of the company which ended with them being cut down with dwarven iron. Using a large stick, Dwalin guided it through lines of goblins and pushed them off the edge with the help of fellow dwarves in order to clear a path.

"Don't look down…don't look down…don't look down," Camellia muttered to herself as she ran behind Kili. She was deathly afraid of heights; if she saw just how high she was, she'd pass out.

In an attempt to save himself, Kili used a ladder as a shield and eventually a weapon. Goblin heads were caught between the steps and they were prisons, that is, until they fell off the edge. The ladder was then used as a bridge.

"Don't look down…don't look down…" she muttered as she crossed the "bridge." She didn't heed her own advice. Her knees became shaky and her stomach queasy, so she did all that she could think to do, get to steady ground. She didn't get there. Everyone ended up on a swinging piece of platform. A few jumped off on the other side, but Camellia was stuck toward the edge. Her legs were now a form of jelly and she doubted she could get over to the rest of the company. Lucky for her, Bofur saw her struggle and dragged her to the other edge. Without her knowledge or consent, Bofur threw her to the other side where Gloin caught her and set her on her feet. She didn't stay there. She fell on the ground almost immediately.

Once everyone was on the other side, the platform was cut from its ropes and it fell into the never ending cave. The company began to move again, but Camellia couldn't get to her feet; her legs were jelly now. This was the absolute worst time for her trivial fears to kick in.

"Camellia, come on!" Kili urged, stopped behind the group to address the crippled female.

"I-I can't." She confessed. Fili noticed as well and both the brother lifted her up and set her to her feet. She collapsed again. Again, they lifted her and supported her as they rushed to re-join the group.

"What? Goblins got you scared?" Fili joked.

"N-no…I don't like heights…" She admitted as she tried to convince her legs to work again.

"If these can hold Bombur, they'll hold you too. You don't need to worry," Kili reassured.

"I know it's stupid, but I can't help it."

"You can fight off trolls and yet you can't deal with this?" Fili joked again.

"I wish it were different."

"Just imagine you're not above a drop," Kili bolstered.

"Or think about all the goblins you're about to kill," Fili added, "That'll take your mind off of the height." The brothers let go of her when they were certain she was steady. "Now, let's go kill some goblins!" They ran into the midst of the battle.

Gandalf continued to lead them toward a way out. While swords and hammers and axes smashed through most of the goblins, Camellia got all the left overs. Their run was looking good, not one goblin was in the way, until they reached a bridge. The goblin king popped through the wooden boards and stopped the company in its tracks. They were surrounded now.

"You thought you could escape me!" He brought his mallet down, but Gandalf deflected it. "What are you going to do now, _wizard_?" Gandalf jabbed his staff into the goblin king's eye and then sliced his stomach open. "That'll do it," was the last words the goblin king spoke before Gandalf slit his throat. The force of the king's fall cause the bridge they were standing on to fall. On the way down, the bridge section took out tiers of other wooden pathways and parts of rock before getting slowed down by a narrow crevice in the cave and falling to the ground in pieces.

"Well, that could have been worse," Bofur said. He spoke too soon. The goblin king's body landed on top of the pile of wood and dwarves.

"You've got to be joking!" Dwalin grunted. They began to struggle out of the wreckage when Kili called out.

"Gandalf!" Goblins were scaling the walls and heading toward them.

"There's too many, we can't fight them," Dwalin stated as he pulled Bifur to his feet.

"Only one thing will save us: daylight," Gandalf responded as he pulled some struggling dwarves from the rubble. Camellia pulled Fili out of the rubble and began running with the group. Eventually, the smell of musty goblin filled cave disappeared and the light from the rising sun poked at their faces. They were relieved to have escaped.

"Where's Bilbo?" Camellia asked as soon as she got a head count. Everyone looked around, as if he was playing a game with them.

"Where is our hobbit?" Gandalf asked. No one could find him.

_Had the goblins gotten him?_


	7. Chapter 7: The Truth

"Curse that Halfling!" Dwalin bellowed. "Now he's lost? I thought he was with Dori!" Camellia thought she heard something, but she could see nothing. Taking in a deep breath of air she continued to stare at the spot where the mysterious rustle came from. She could no longer hear what Dwalin was whining about, she was so concerned with finding out what caused that noise. Fili put a hand on her shoulder when she began to walk back toward where they had just come.

"What are you doing?"

"I thought I heard something." She turned back and re-joined the group. She knew Bilbo was over there. She knew that he hiding somewhere over there, listening in. She turned her head in his direction. "I know you're over there," she muttered. "They're worried about you."

"They don't sound too worried…" Bilbo muttered to himself.

"I'll tell you what happened," Thorin began. Camellia rolled her eyes. "Master Baggins saw his chance and took it. He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm house since he first stepped out of his door. We will not be seeing our hobbit again. He is long gone." Camellia opened her mouth to say something, but Fili put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. She gave a small pout and held her tongue. A sorrow fell over the group. They had grown quite attached to their burgular. Even Camellia began to feel woeful. _'If someone had said that about me, I'd turn away too,' _thought she.

There was a small rustle in the woods and she was sure Bilbo had left.

"No," came a voice. Their hobbit was standing there. "He isn't." Relief.

"Bilbo Baggins! I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!" Gandalf exclaimed. Bilbo began walking toward the group.

"Bilbo! We've given you up!" Kili said, surprised.

"How on earth did you get past the goblins?" Fili asked.

"How indeed." Camellia skipped the formalities and gathered him in a hug.

"I'm so glad you came back," she whispered in his ear. She let him go and returned to standing next to Fili. Bilbo gave a little laughed and put his hands in his pockets.

"Well, what does it matter?" Gandalf asked. "He's back." The look on his face was one of knowing, but what exactly did he know?

"It matters," Thorin stated. "I want to know: why did you come back?" Pure curiosity filled his eyes. That was a nice change. Bilbo looked at Thorin.

"I know you doubt me. I know you always have." Bilbo paused. "And you're right, I often think of Bag End." He shrugged. "I miss my books. And my arm chair, and my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home." This was starting to sound like a good-bye speech. "And that's why I came back, 'cause," he looked at the group, "you don't have one. A home." The look in Thorin's eyes changed to one of sadness. "It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back, if I can." Everyone was surprised and a bit sad. They didn't like to think about their lack of home, but rather, how they were going to take it back.

Their reunion was cut short when a strange noise came from the mountain. Standing where the company escaped from was a pale orc. The Pale Orc. Without much thought, they ran away from the orcs, but they didn't get far before the wargs had caught up to them. Bilbo's sword, Sting, impaled one through the eye. Others were able to knock out the ones attacking them. They continued to run until the land had ended. On the very end stood trees. Tall trees. They was their only protection now. They began to climb. Bilbo had removed this stuck sword from the dead warg and ran toward the tree. Bilbo, being much shorter than all of them, had trouble reaching a tree branch. Camellia saw his blight and dangled from her knees and pulled him off the ground, just in time, but she, herself was not quick enough and earned a slash on her left cheek from a warg's claws. Before long, the plain below was swarming with orcs and wargs. They were cornered. Before long, wargs started climbing the trees. From her vintage point, Camellia was able to shoot a few down off the trees that contained her friends, but she only have so many arrows.

The pale orc, Azog, spoke in his foul tongue. It didn't seem too friendly. The trees were being shaken by the large dogs attacking them. A several branches have been broken of several of the trees. Eventually one of the trees began to fall and, much like dominoes, it took others down with it. Clinging for their lives, the company held tight. All had jumped onto the only standing tree in the area, the one on the very end of the land. Once again, the wargs began to slam into the trunk of the tree.

"Camellia," Kili called when he saw her jump onto his branch from her falling tree. She quickly got to her feet. His face reddened slightly when she faced him. "In case we don't survive this," he started and looked at his feet, "I wanted to," she cut him off by placing her lips softly on his.

"Don't. We'll get through this. All of us." Gandalf had thrown a burning pine cone at the party below. She turned away from him and took aim with another arrow. "If there is one thing I have learned from you guys," she shot, taking out an orc and his warg, "it is that your will to succeed it far greater than your physical strength." She faced him again. "And I have never met anyone stronger than the dwarves," she said with a smile.

Flaming pine cones began to descend from Gandalf. Taking some of the fire from Bilbo's pine cone, Camellia lit the wood right behind her arrow's head and took aim. The arrow caught an orc in the shoulder and he ran back to his people, panicking. The panicking itself caused more fire to spread: from him to the wargs to other orcs. Just when everything was going well, the orcs retreating, their tree, unable to hold the weight of all 16 of them, began to fall. Ori slipped and fell off the tree, grabbing Dori's leg just in time to save himself, but Dori's grip was already shaky and with the added weight, he won't be able to hold on for long. No one would be able to hold on for long.

Dori had lost his grip, but Gandalf's staff was there immediately to provide something else for them to hold on to. As the company tried to hold on to the tree, Thorin was staring down Azog, his nemesis. Without fear, Thorin stood up on the tree's trunk and began walking toward the pale orc. With his sword raised high, Thorin advanced, ready to fight, but Azog stayed on his warg and jumped over Thorin, knocking him down with the warg's legs. Dazed, Thorin stands back up, but the pale orc's mace hit him hard in the chest, knocking the breath out of him. Without thinking, Bilbo stands up on the tree's trunk. The warg brings his jaw closed around Thorin's arm and chest. A cry of agony escapes him. Dwalin tries to pull himself up and onto the trunk, but his branch breaks and he slips farther away from the trunk. Thorin hits the warg on the head with his sword and the warg sends him flying into a rock 20 feet away. Azog orders his fellow orc to behead the dwarven leader. Though he cannot understand orc tongue, Bilbo pulls out his sword and takes a few deep breaths before charging in. He blindsided the orc standing over Thorin and knocked him to the ground. Impulse took over and Bilbo killed the orc that now lay above him. It was Bilbo's actions that send blood pumping through the dwarves' veins and they charged in too, slicing and hacking at the orcs and their wargs. Bilbo was up alone against Azog, but before he could attack, or be attacked, the sound of eagles filled the night air. They plucked off wargs and orcs and dropped them over the edge. One had picked up Thorin's unconscious body and flew away. One swooped in and stole Bilbo away before dropping him. Here, Bilbo thought he was done for, but another eagle caught him on its back. All the dwarves, and Camellia, were picked up and dropped onto another's back.

They were carried until the sun had risen in the sky. All were fallen asleep on the soft feathers of the eagles' - none could stay awake for another night – until the sun had landed on their eyelids. They were taken to a mountain with a flat top. Thorin lay, unconscious, in front of Gandalf. No one knew if he was alive or dead, until he opened his eyes. Everyone was relieved that he was alive, but Camellia feared what he would have to say to Bilbo. Bilbo was smiling, he had grown to like Thorin, even with his mean words and cruel stares.

"You!" Thorin began. The smile on Bilbo's face faded. "What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed!" Thorin was angry. He began to approach Bilbo. "Did I not say that you would be a burden?" Bilbo took a step back. "That you would not survive in the wild? And you have no place amongst us?" Bilbo was avoiding Thorin's eyes. "I have never been so wrong in all my life." Thorin embraced Bilbo in a hug. Camellia gasped softly before a smile overtook her face. He had finally accepted Bilbo into their company, their family. Cheers erupted from the other dwarves. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

"No, I would have doubted me too," Bilbo said. Camellia stifled a giggle. "I'm not a hero or a warrior," he looked at Gandalf, "not even a burgular." The eagles flew off into the distance. Opposite them, Thorin spotted something. Something he'd been searching for all along, the Lonely Mountain. The group moved closer to the edge to get a better look. It was there, waiting for them.

They began their descend down from where they were. Camellia began to climb down with the rest of the group when a sharp pain shot down her arm. In the daylight, she could see that her cloak was stained red. Moving it, she saw that her skin was cut and poking out from it was something white and jagged. She tried her best to climb down the side with only her right arm, but her struggle wasn't unnoticed. When they reached the bottom, she spoke up.

"I don't mean to be a bother or anything, but I think I may have broken my arm."

"What makes you think that?" Balin asked. She pushed her cloak off her arm and turned her left toward him.

"This is what concerns me."

"So that's why you were struggling on the way down," Bofur commented.

"When did this happen?" Balin asked as he made his way over to her.

"I don't know," came her honest answer.

"How can you not know?" Ori asked.

"We were under attack. Not really paying attention to much other than our survival." Balin gave her arm a quick jerk into place without warning. She supressed a screamed and closed her eyes as she let out a breath she had unknowingly been holding. Two tears fell from her eyes, one from the right and one from the left. She was breathing in deep, trying to ignore the pain. Her wound began to bleed again.

"Does that feel better?"

"No," she answered immediately, "Definitely not." She reached for her bag on her back, but it was strapped to both arms. Slipped a dagger from her boot, she cut the one strap and let the other one slide off her right arm. Digging through it, she pulled out a small container and opened it. Inside was a bluish cream that she dipped her fingers in and rubbed on the bleeding wound. The bleeding ceased immediately. After rubbing the excess cream on the ground, she searched again for some bandages. Kili took the bandages from her hand and began to wrap her arm for her. "I-I can do that."

"No you can't," Fili said. "You've really done it this time." He meant to be funny, to try and take her mind off of her pain. She scoffed and stuck her hand in her bag once again, looking for something to make a sling out of. Kili took that away from her too.

"Are you better now?" Thorin asked impatiently once her arm was in a sling.

"Yes," she responded. They began walking again. After a few minutes she asked, "What do I have to do in order for you to accept me into this company?"

"Prove that you're useful." He didn't bother to turn to answer.

"Haven't I done that? I've fought the trolls. I've fought the goblins. I've fought the orcs. Who else do I have to kill for you to respect me?"

"Smaug," came his smug answer.

"No one can single-handedly defeat a dragon, unless it's another dragon. I don't know if you can tell, but I'm much too small to be a dragon."

"Then you will never have my respect." His voice was cold. Camellia was astonished. She stopped walking. Kili stopped too and look at her. He made a move for her hand, but her words shocked him too much to move.

"70 years ago, you weren't this bitter!" She shouted at him. Thorin stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"What would you know?"

"You used to smile and laugh. You used to play with your nephews like they were your own children. You used to be such a warm person! When your sister befriended that elf from the north, you didn't scowl at her the same way you did Elrond! She was the only elf you ever considered a friend! You even treated her child like she belonged! What's different now?! Is it because she's older now? Is it because she has a sharp tongue? Or have you forgotten your old self? Have you lost who you once were?" Thorin turned to face her now. Her face was red and slightly bruised. Her clothes were torn and her side was soaked with her blood. She looked horrible.

"What are you talking about?" He was beginning to get angry.

"Your sister's, Dis's, best friend, Lyarea, is, was, my mother!" Her eyes were glossy, as if she was holding back tears. "Can't you tell? I have her face…" She stared hard at Thorin. "Every time I see my reflection, I see my mother staring back at me and I'm reminded that because of creatures like Azog, she's gone. I'll never see her again." Her eyes were overfilled: a few tears slipped out. "I thought that joining this group would not only help fulfil my need to explore, but that you would treat me like you used to when I would run around with Fili and Kili when we were toddlers and I would finally belong somewhere." She closed her eyes to squeeze out the remaining tears. "It looks like I was wrong. These past several months have been a waste of my time seeing as you have lost your sense of family." She grabbed her bag and threw it over her shoulder. "You know, I used to look up to you the way I looked up to my father, but seeing as how you won't give me a shred of humanity, I must bid you a farewell." She turned to Kili. As their eyes connected a single tear fell from hers. "I'm sorry," she said with a woeful voice before turning and walking away. She disappeared into the woods.


	8. Chapter 8: The Forest

Kili called after her, his voice echoing in the wilderness, but there was no response. Camellia was gone. Never had he felt such an emptiness. His despair soon mixed with anger toward his uncle. He couldn't explain it, but he blamed his uncle for not realising who she was. Sure, neither Kili nor Fili did, but their uncle was much older and that's who Kili blamed. If his uncle had not been so cold toward the red headed girl then she would still be here, with him, not out in the woods with a broken arm. His mind was clouded. He didn't know how to act; he just stared into the dense wood where she had once been. He may have not known what to do, his legs certainly did. They tugged him into the woods.

"Kili!" Fili yelled out before going in after his brother. Once he had entered the woods, almost all the day of day disappeared. "You won't find her!" He tried to convince his brother. Remembering playing as a toddler with the missing red headed girl and his brother. "We never could!" He caught up to his brother. "She was the best at hiding."

"That never stopped me from trying."

"If she doesn't want to be found, she won't be, you know that." They had made it about 100 feet into the woods until they had hit a wall of trees and underbrush. There was no way they could get through it, not even something small like a chipmunk could. Not knowing where to go, they began to follow it north. About half a mile north a voice called out, but they did not know whose it was. They didn't even know what it said. More voices began to speak, but none of them were known to the two brothers. The voices spoke in whispers, barely audible to their dwarven ears. As they travelled, the forest seemed to grow darker, as if the sun was setting, but they haven't been travelling for long, it couldn't be sunset yet. It seemed like every time they looked away, the forest in front of them changed, growing denser and denser.

The forest was disorientating. The brothers no longer knew the time of day or whether they were still on their previous path. The whispers seemed to grow louder the longer they travelled and they weren't sure if they were real or hallucinations caused by the dark forest and their unknowing of their path.

"You shouldn't have come in here," a familiar voice called out. Camellia immerged from their right, through the thick brushwood. They were wrong, someone could get through.

"I wanted to make sure you were safe."

"And I just followed him to make sure he didn't do anything stupid."

"That wasn't why either of you came in here." She stood in front of them. "Fili, you were worried about me, but you didn't want to just rush after me because you knew Thorin would yell at you. Kili," she paused. "You didn't want to lose me and even though when you return Thorin will scold you, you have to go back. These woods are no place for dwarves."

"There no place for you either!" Kili stated.

"You heard the voices, didn't you?"

"What voices?" Fili asked.

"Don't play dumb. I know you heard them. They're the ones that you can't understand. The ones that speak in whispers. "

"You hear them too?"

"I hear them all the time. The voices of nature are always there. The trees are a bit angry that strangers have appeared. You two should go back the way you came so you don't anger them anymore.

"But you're a stranger too," Fili said, confused.

"I am no more a stranger here than I am at home. Come on, you need to re-join the company."

"Are you coming back then too?"

"No."

"Then I'm staying."

"I am too."

"You can't stay!"

"We're staying with you," they responded in unison. Camellia sighed; there was no point in arguing with them.

"Fine, but we'll have to leave the forest, for you safety." She headed north with the brother slightly behind her. The forest was still very dense, but it seemed to have been lightened since her appearance.

"How is it that you can travel through this forest?" Fili asked.

"The forest is all knowing. It has seen many people through its long life and knows who is a danger to them." She faced them and started to walk backwards. "My mother taught me that every rock and tree and creature has a life, has a spirit, has a name. I've been told that I am one with nature, but that's not true. I understand nature and nature understands me. It's comparable to the friendship we share, Fili." She returned to facing forward. "If you take some time, you can hear the voices of the mountains and the trees and the grass. The longer you try to understand the world around you, the more you understand it."

It took nearly two hours to get outside the forest. Erebor appeared closer than it was when they were standing on top of the mountain with the rest of the company. They travelled north another hour until they reached a river. It was about two kilometres wide and curved out of the forest and through the mountains. The water was a dark blue and transparent. They bottom seemed closed, but it was about a metre and a half deep at the shallowest.

"We will camp here tonight," Camellia said as she dropped her bag on the ground. She removed her shoes, cloak, and sling before jumping into the water. She made a large splash when she broke the calm surface of the water. When she surfaced she looked toward the two dwarves. "If you would, go to the edge of the forest and retrieve all twigs on the ground. Don't cut or break anything off the trees; they already don't like you, don't make them hate you." She disappeared under the water once again.

"We have to go back to that forest?" Kili complained.

"What? Are you scared brother?"

"No!" He defended immediately before walking back toward the forest they had so recently escaped.

"Only the edge, right?"

"And you say I'm scared," Kili poked fun.

"Shut up!" Fili shouted as he joined his brother picking up twigs. When they returned, Camellia was standing on the shore in new and clean clothes. On a rock near the river's edge lay her clothes, drying in the sun's light. Her hair was wet, but she used her cloak to rub out some of the water creating a tousled look. Her elvish ears were quite obvious now. Though Fili and Kili still had a large hate for the elves, they suited her well.

"Did you get the firewood?" Camellia asked as they reappeared at their small campsite. They dropped the twigs on the ground.

"You're arm," Kili said. She had removed the bandages from her arm revealing a bruise and a large cut.

"Oh, yeah, I took out the bandages off to clean it. It looks a lot worse than it is."

"You should really wrap it."

"You should really not worry so much, Kili. I'm fine." She moved her arm up and down. "See? Doesn't even hurt. I'll wrap it up before I go to sleep."

"You should be careful," Fili stated.

"Yeah, yeah…" She began stacking the wood into a tee-pee shape, but she couldn't get it to stay. Every time she would lay a third piece, the whole structure would fall. Eventually, she gave up and left the twigs in a pile on the ground. She retrieved a dagger from her boots and sat on the side of the river.

"What are you doing?" Fili asked.

"Catching dinner for you two."

"With just a knife?"

"Fili's right. You won't be able to get anything with just a knife."

"Don't doubt me. While I get dinner, please go start the fire." They thought it would be easy, but they were wrong. They were doing no better than Camellia was earlier. Instead of trying to stack the wood in a neat fashion, they just piled it and lit it. By the time the fire had started, Camellia had caught four fish, and skinned them too, and had collected various herbs and other greenery. Using the pans and plates that Fili and Kili had in their sacks, Camellia had prepared a small dinner of garlic and basil fish and a salad. Naturally, Camellia was the only one who dared to eat the greenery.

"This is really good," Kili muttered with a mouthful of fish.

"Who taught you how to cook?" Fili asked.

"Learned it myself. I used to watch my mother and the other maidens prepare meals back home. Often times I would experiment with the various foods in the pantry and eventually learned what was good together and what was not."

"Did you also teach yourself how to hunt?"

"Kind of. I liked to watch the animals outside. Up in Forodwaith, there are a lot of mountain lions and wolves and there were a lot of small animals like rabbits around my home. Often I would see the hunting technique of the wolves or the lions."

"So that's how you caught the fish."

"No. I put my hand in the water and waited for a fish to swim by. When I got it out of the water, I cut its head off. It took me less time to catch four fish than it did for you to get the fire started," she joked.

"Well I'm sorry Miss Perfect," Fili remarked.

"Kili, has your brother always been this sassy?"

"Don't drag me into this." There was a noise in the woods that interrupted their bickering. The two dwarves stood up and drew their weapons.

"What was that?"

"You're jumpy. It's just a bunny. Unless you're afraid of bunnies, Fili." Not a moment later a small brown hare emerged from the dark green shrubbery. The brothers lowered their weapons. "If you'd stop thinking that there are bad guys out there, you'd be a lot less jumpy."

"But there are bad guys out there, Camellia," Kili said, sitting next to her. "And with your injury, we can't be caught off guard."

"We're just looking out for you," Fili said as he took a seat on the other side of her. "And I am not scared of bunnies."

"Really? You jumped pretty high." She smirked. "No one can get through those woods without a guide. You have nothing to worry about." She looked toward the forest. "I really hope that no one else followed you. I fear they may never remerge."

"No one followed us. Thorin wouldn't let them," Kili reassured.

"He cares about you two, even though he is sometimes a hard ass. He might have sent a searching party in after you."

"I doubt it," Fili stated. "He's probably sulking about how we do stupid things and this time we were really stupid."

"When we get back, he'll probably yell at us for running after you and after a few hours, he'll be back to his brooding self." Camellia laughed slightly. She laid back to look at the sky; the sun was setting and the stars were coming out.

"If we go to sleep now, we can start moving again at sunrise."

"Who will stand watch?"

"Don't worry about it. Just go to sleep."

"Your arm."

"Oh, that's right," Camellia said as she sat up and dug through her bag. This time she pulled out a large jar. Inside there was a pinkish cream. She took a large amount of it on two of her fingers and rubbed it on the cut on her arm. She went to grab some bandages from her bag, but Kili had beaten her to it and began to wrap her arm up. She gave him smile and laid back down on the ground. She put her right arm under her head as she continued to stare up at the sky. "It never ceases to amaze me that everywhere I go, the stars are always different." Camellia pulled her bag to her side and pulled out her sketch book.

"You're always writing in that thing," Fili commented.

"You're wrong. I'm not writing." She sat up and pull her ink bottle and pen out of the front pocket of her bag. She began to depict the stars in the sky.

"What else have you drawn in there?" Kili asked as he watched her fill the tan parchment with little black stars.

"Tons of things." She finished recording the sky, placed the book in front of her and turned to the first page.

"Is that Bilbo's home?" Fili asked.

"Yes. I was only able to get down a few rooms before you guys started making a commotion in the dining room." Bilbo's front room, living room, bathroom, and bedroom were all depicted in her pen work. She had spent four pages sketching down the hallway, doors, and windows. These were the few that were in colour. The next collection were on the dwarven party. Sitting in the dining room, by the fire in Bilbo's home, by the campfire in The Shire the first night, and riding on ponies the first morning. The rest of the drawings were in black and white, seeing as she had wasted all her oil pastels detailing all the dwarves. Several were of the night sky; the moon off in one corner and the stars everywhere else. She had labelled in the corner where she was when the sky looked like this and what the date was. She had drawn birds and trees; rabbits and rocks; rivers and deer; there was even one of the trolls when they were roasting the dwarves.

"So, instead of saving us, you drew a picture of our misery," Fili stated, feigning anger.

"You're here now aren't you? You weren't hurt too bad."

"And what if I was?"

"Toughen up." The two stared at each other for a few moments before returning back to Camellia sketch book. The following page was a drawing of a woman's face. She had long hair and very light coloured eyes.

"This is your mother," Kili said as he stared at the picture. He looked up at Camellia. "You do look like her."

"Oh, I remember her. She always brought us candy," Fili said as he stared at the picture.

"Taught us to make some too."

"Could you make any?"

"Every time I would try, I set the kitchen on fire. I think I made two successful batches ever and they were nowhere near as good as my mother's."

"You could always practise. We're here to test your work," Fili offered. Camellia laughed.

"Of course you are." The next page was her horse towering over all the other ponies. Alesdair was grooming himself in this picture; the other ponies were eating grass. The next several were of the night sky. The one before her current picture was a view from atop the eagles. The river and mountains below, the company spread out on other eagles and her own eagle with a partial of her legs. It looked almost exactly as if someone were to be riding an eagle with a book in their lap.

"Why did you choose those things to draw?" Kili asked.

"I wanted to have something to show my children of my adventures. Words can only describe so much so I learned how to draw so when I did travel, I could put the sights onto paper and share them for generations to come. Though I couldn't put everything to paper, I could put some things down when I had the time." Camellia stifled a yawn. "Time for me to go to sleep." She laid down, putting her bag under her head and closed her eyes. Fili laid back, using his arm as a pillow before falling asleep. Kili put a blanket over Camellia before closing his eyes. It wasn't a moment later that Kili felt something placed over him. She had taken the blanket he laid on her and placed it on him. He opened one eye to watch her. "I don't need that," she muttered as she let sleep take over her.

They had slept hard the night. The fire turned into embers by sunrise. When Kili woke up, he noticed his blanket was only half covering him. It seemed that in the night, Camellia had become cold and pulled part of the blanket onto her as she curled close to him. Her bag was away from its original spot. Fili seemed to be displaced the worst. He had rolled a metre away from where he had fallen asleep. Kili snickered as he remembered her parting words the night before. He went to get up, but a hand laid gently on his chest.

"I'll take care of it." Camellia pushed herself up and made toward the river. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes as a yawn escaped her throat. He was about to say something, but Camellia waved him off. "Don't say anything. If you want to do anything, fix the fire."

It hadn't taken him long to restart the fire, but Camellia was not performing as well as she had the night before. She caught one fish and it took her over twenty minutes to do so. She threw the skinned fish on the fire with the few remaining herbs.

"I'm sorry. It was all I could get."

"And here I thought you were some fishing guru," Fili yawned out.

"I need a nap," came her response. She laid back down and closed her eyes. "Give it another minute before taking it out." They obeyed and ate their small breakfast while their small companion caught more sleep.

Once they had finished, they packed up their things and, instead of waking up the sleeping, Camellia, Kili gently picked her up and began to carry her.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Fili asked as he situated most of their backs on his back.

"Just head toward Erebor," Kili answered as he established a comfortable position for Camellia in his arms. They began toward Erebor. The forest ended about four miles north, giving the brothers a feeling of tranquillity as they got away from the old talking forest. They reached a large flat plain once they had cleared the forest line. You could see from one end to the other with no interference. There were no rocks, just tall grass. Across the field they saw a creature, white as the clouds, standing in the tall grass. It spotted them and began to run toward them. It was growing larger and larger the closer it got; when it was about 50 yards out, it was the same height as the dwarves. It stopped in front of them and stared down at the female in Kili's arms.

"Didn't she call it Alesdair?" Fili asked.

"I think so." The large white horse sniffed Camellia's head before licking her face. It woke her up with a smile.

"Alesdair…" she said, jovial. She reached up to pet her right hand to touch her horse's snout. Camellia rolled onto her feet and out of Kili's arms to pet Alesdair. "I was worried about you," she whispered. Alesdair gave out a quiet neigh. "I'm glad." His nose lightly bumped her shoulder. "It's nothing. It's much better now; just a small break."

"Small?!" Kili sounded shocked.

"You had it poking out of your arm," Fili supplemented. Alesdair looked up at the brothers and neighed loudly twice. Camellia smiled again and spoke in a foreign tongue that sounded vaguely familiar. Alesdair licked the side of her face.

"Do you two have your own language or something?" Fili asked.

"No. He's really smart. He understands everything we say. It just takes a special kind of person to understand him. A horse's language is much more complicated than any of our languages." She looked toward the Lonely Mountain. "Come on. We've got a mountain to take back."


	9. Chapter 9: Belong

With a horse in their small company, they no longer had to struggle carrying their bags. Alesdair was much stronger than all of them and would be able to carry their load with no trouble, but of course, no one could ride him. Alesdair lead them toward a stone cobbled road that lead into a small village. There, they could get a small meal and Camellia could get some care for Alesdair. They stopped first at the local horse stable where Camellia cleaned and replaced Alasdair's shoes and gave him a quick brush to help remove the dirt from his coat. Then they stopped in a tavern and grabbed some ale and a warm meal.

They spent an hour in the small village before they began walking again. It was just past midday. There was still plenty of time to catch up with the rest of the dwarves and Bilbo.

Thorin continued to lead the remaining dwarves, and Bilbo, to Erebor. There was a silence that filled the company, a woeful silence. The two biggest jokesters were gone and the quirky red head was absent. They had only known her for several months, but she had belonged with them. She had terrible jokes, but they always made them laugh. She was always there to encourage them when they were feeling like they would never reclaim Erebor. They even missed her arguing with Thorin and, even though he hated to admit it, Thorin missed her too. He had seen how taken his nephews were with Camellia and how much his company liked her, but he couldn't admit, not even to himself, that he wanted her back too.

The day was drawing to a close and there was still no sign of Camellia, Kili, or Fili.

"What if they never come back?" Ori asked as they set up a campsite.

"Camellia wouldn't just leave us. She'll be back," Bofur assured.

"What if she's been eaten by a bear or something?"

"We should be more worried about Fili and Kili being eaten by a bear than Camellia," Dori joked. "She's the best archer I have ever seen!"

"Don't worry laddie," Dwalin told Ori. "The lassie will be okay."

"It's Fili and Kili we should worry about, but with Camellia there, they should be fine," Bofur commented. The sun had gone down leave only the light of the fire. The moon was even dark.

"Maybe we should make camp," Kili suggested as Camellia lead the way through the tall grass.

"We're almost there. They're just over there, I know it."

"You said that an hour ago," Fili complained.

"If we make camp tonight, I'll have lost their scent by morning."

"Scent?" Fili questioned.

"Everyone has a scent, but not bathing makes it a lot worse."

"So, you're saying you can smell them?"

"Precisely. If you'd stop complaining, this would be a lot less irritating."

"But we having eaten since we left the village," Kili commented. Camellia stopped and opened one of the saddlebags. She pulled out two large pieces of cured meat.

"It's not warm," she said as she tossed it to them, "but it will have to do until morning. Let's keep moving." She continued on through the grass.

"Camellia, it's too dark! We can't continue on!" Kili called out. There was no response from her. "Camellia?" Kili called again. He was startled with something cold reached out and seized his hand.

"Take your brother's hand," a familiar voice said. "We're almost there, I promise." He did as he was told and took hold of Fili's hand.

"You can't even see out here, how are you so sure we're any closer?" Fili asked, tired of travelling.

"_You_ may not be able to see out here, but I can. They had set up camp about 100 yards from here. Their fire is but a speck in the night."

"But, how do you know it's their fire?" She gave his hand a squeeze.

"I can smell the meat."

"But it could be orcs!" Fili said.

"Orcs don't cook their meat. Nor do goblins. Elves don't eat meat. Hobbits don't travel outside Hobbiton, aside from our burgular. Come on, we're almost there."

"What does almost mean to you anyway?" Fili asked.

"Less than two hours." Fili groaned. He was never going to trust her time estimates again. "Don't worry. I promise ten minutes at most."

"And if we go over this ten minute mark?"

"Then we'll run."

"Run?"

"Run."

"In the dark?"

"Yes, in the dark. It's not that bad. If we go over ten minutes then you'll just have to run toward the campfire."

"What campfire?"

"Your eyesight is starting to go. You must be getting old." Fili couldn't think of a good enough come back so he just kept his mouth shut as they continued on through the tall grass. The little speck of light in the dark grew bigger the longer they travelled. It had been more than ten minutes when the dwarven company's, and Bilbo's, silhouettes had come into view.

"You said ten minutes."

"I could have made it in ten minutes, but you're a slow walker. It slowed us down." Fili scoffed and stopped. This caused the other two to stop too. Alesdair continued on toward the camp.

"I bet I could beat you running there."

"I bet you can't."

"Let's see who's faster than!"

"Kili, would you like to run too?" Camellia asked. "I mean, it won't make any difference, I'd still get there first, but I thought you'd like to face off against your brother." Kili snorted.

"You might beat Fili, but you won't beat me."

"Looks like we have a race." They line up with each other and Fili started the count down.

"Ready…set…go!" They took off at full speed. It looked like a tied between the three of them, but Camellia began to fall behind slightly. Now it was on Fili and Kili against each other. Their race had alerted Thorin and the rest to their arrival, but they did not know that it was the two missing dwarves and the red head so they had drawn their weapons, ready to fight.

Fili and Kili had nearly left Camellia in the dust, but she had reached the campsite just a few seconds later.

"I beat you!" Kili started.

"No, I beat you!" Fili disagreed.

"No, you guys were tied," Camellia said once she got to the camp.

"But, I beat you!" Fili said, animated.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" she waved him off. He was not going to let her forget this for a long time.

"You're…back…" Bilbo was the first to speak. The three turned to the group in front of them.

"I figured I should return them to where they belong," Camellia said.

"Are you staying?" Ori asked.

"You belong here too!" Bofur said before she could answer.

"With how often I have rows with your leader, I don't think that I should be here. I cause more trouble than I'm worth." A chuckle could be heard from Thorin as he stood up and walked over to her. She pulled herself up straight and was ready for whatever harsh words he had for her.

"You run off with my two nephews." His tone was stern and a small mite sharp.

"They followed me," she stated quickly.

"You don't bother to fight. You argue whenever you have the chance. You're stubborn and impulsive. The worst of it all, you're an elf!" He paused to stare her down. He was a little less than a head taller than her. She stared at him with as harsh a stare as he gave her. "You don't belong here." She expected nothing different, though it still hurt to hear those words. The others muttered around her expressing their disagreement to each other. "That is what I have held as true until recently. You belong in this company as much as I do." Camellia's jaw dropped. She knew not what to say; she just stared at Thorin, shocked. "My nephew has been quite taken by you." He gave a small glance toward Kili before returning his gaze back to Camellia. "I couldn't deny him that simple happiness even though you're a huge pain."

"I…" she began to say.

"Camellia, speechless. That's a shock!" She truly didn't know what to say. She was so used to Thorin's cold exterior, especially toward her, that when he finally said something nice, she was flabbergasted. A simple 'thank you' wouldn't be enough for his gift. An unsuspecting Thorin found himself embraced in the small redhead's arms.

"I can't express how thankful I am," she muttered into his clothing. He wrapped his arms around her, a way of saying that he accepted her thanks.

"This doesn't mean I'm going to stop being snarky," she said as she pulled away. An outsized smile was plastered on her face.

"I didn't expect it," Thorin said, a small smile on his bearded face.

"Welcome back, Camellia!" Bofur said, slapping her hard on the back. She smiled at him. "Ori was worried about you." The young dwarf turned red.

"We told him not to worry about you. He should worry more Fili and Kili." Balin said.

"Oh, she's not that dangerous," Fili said, throwing an arm over her shoulders.

"I think they were more worried that you'd get eaten by a bear," Camellia said with a smirk.

"Funny," Fili said, stepping away from her. Alesdair walked over to her to nudge her cheek. She lightly rubbed his neck and started to unload him. Once she had gotten all the bags off, Alesdair took off into the night. A yawn escaped her lips as she watched her horse run off.

"You should go to sleep." She jumped slightly. She turned to see a barely bearded Kili.

"I didn't expect you to be there; you startled me."

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. You should get to bed too. I've been dragging you around all day." She squatted down to sift through her bag. Kili also began to sift through his bag. "It's not in there." He looked at her. "It's right here. I kind of reorganised everything." She handed him his blanket. "You and your brother don't know how to pack anything." Kili laughed.

"That's why we have you."

"I really hope that's not the only reason you keep me around." She kissed his cheek and headed off to the corner of the campsite. Camellia was just about to fall asleep, but a soft kiss to her forehead woke her. When she opened her eyes, she saw the warm brown eyes of her favourite dwarf lying next to her. She wore a small smile as she closed her eyes again and drifted off into sleep, curled next to a jovial Kili.


End file.
